Das Pathos der Nüchternheit. Über die Aktualität des Lakonismus

Abstract

The Pathos of Sobriety: Reconsidering Laconism This article attempts to reframe literary laconism by distinguishing between laconism as a stylistic routine of the twentieth century and as a universal device of deceiving expectations. To do so, it addresses the systematic question of how laconism suggests what it omits and how we can deal with the unresolved status of pathos within this process. Using a broad international corpus with an emphasis on Russian literature, this article asks, moreover, to what extent the category of laconism, rhetorical at its basis, can prove fruitful for literary history.